Simply Joking Looks to Follow Ce Ce’s Example in Princess Rooney

No Ordinary Claim, No Bad Beats Runs Back in Princess Rooney
Joseph Triples Up for Saturday’s Ginger Punch Handicap

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Trainer Michael McCarthy has reason to be more than a little optimistic about Berkels0813 LLC, CMNWLTH LLC, Grantley Acres and Ryan Connor’s Simply Joking cutting back from two turns to one turn for Saturday’s $225,000 Princess Rooney (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

After all, he was certainly successful while making that move with Ce Ce, who cut back to one turn to win the 2021 Princess Rooney, the seven-furlong turf stakes for fillies and mares that would serve as a springboard for a triumph in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) at Del Mar later in the year.

Simply Joking’s two-turn form has been so solid that the 4-year-old daughter of Practical Joke has been installed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite in a field of seven assembled for the Princess Rooney, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series ‘Win and You’re In’ event that offers the winner a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf Sprint Oct. 31 at Keeneland.

“It’s a nice race at the right time of year for her. I like the spacing. Hopefully, she runs to her training:” McCarthy said. “Maybe this will find her in a race like the Filly and Mare (Turf) Sprint at Keeneland.”

Simply Joking has been graded stakes-placed around two turns in her three most recent races, including a front-running 6 3/4-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Santa Maria (G3) April 19 at Santa Anita. She is graded stakes-placed around one turn also, having finished an even third in the seven-furlong La Brea (G1) in her 2025 finale at Santa Anita.

Ce Ce, a two-time Grade 1 winner around two turns early in her 3-year-old season, was entered in the Princess Rooney the following year after finishing a disappointing fourth in the Santa Maria.

“I kind of thought her best chance for big-race success would be cutting back to one turn and being able to go ahead and sit back off the pace and come with a big move,” McCarthy said. “She turned into a stretch-running sprinter or something along those lines. It was something we took a shot at and she seemed like she enjoyed it.”

Ce Ce stalked the pace before drawing off to a 3 1/2-length triumph in the 2021 Princess Rooney before going on to rally from off the pace to capture the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf Sprint by 2 1/2 lengths. She returned to Gulfstream the following year to win the Princess Rooney by 6 1/2 lengths after closely attending the early pace.

Juan Hernandez is slated to ride Simply Joking for the first time Saturday.

No Ordinary Claim, No Bad Beats Runs Back in Princess Rooney

Claimed for $50,000 out of her last race, No Bad Beats will make her first start for Thiele Thoroughbreds LLC and trainer Leonard Powell in Saturday’s $225.000 Princess Rooney (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

While the jump into graded-stakes company may be viewed as an ambitious move, the 5-year-old daughter of Midnight Storm is no ordinary claim. Two races prior to being claimed out of a 6 1/2-furlong optional claiming allowance at Del Mar Aug. 9, No Bad Beats finished second in the six-furlong Las Flores (G3) at Santa Anita.

“She was already graded stakes-placed, so we were happy to have the chance to claim her,” Powell said.

Previously trained by Doug O’Neill, No Bad Beats was coming off a six-month layoff when she was claimed. She previously had an off-the-board finish in the Feb. 7 D. Wayne Lukas Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita, one race after earning her graded-stakes placing in the Las Flores. She was more than ready for her return, winning by 3 3/4 lengths in hand.

“She won that race without any pressure, and we’re very happy with the way she’s been training since we’ve had her, It’s a chance to get to the Breeders’ Cup,” said Powell, explaining the decision to run No Bad Beats in the Princess Rooney, a seven-furlong sprint for fillies and mares, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series ‘Win and You’re In’ event that offers the winner a fees-paid berth in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf Sprint Oct. 31 at Keeneland.

No Bad Beats, who is 12-1 on the morning line, will be ridden by Diego Herrera, the former Southern California jockey who won the riding title for Gulfstream’s recently concluded Royal Palm Meet.

Joseph Triples Up for Saturday’s Ginger Punch Handicap

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. hopes to have strength in numbers Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where he not only will have three contenders in the $225,000 Princess Rooney (G3) but will also be represented by three runners in the $100,000 Ginger Punch.

One race before seeking his fourth straight Princess Rooney victory with Kerry’s Kiss, Indy Bay and Anakarina, Joseph will send City Minute, Hello Hello Hello and Barakah to post for the Ginger Punch, an evenly matched handicap for fillies and mares scheduled for a mile on turf.

Carrie Brogden and Ryan Fubini’s Hello Hello Hello (119, 9-2), a three-time winner on Tapeta, will seek her first win on turf following a troubled fourth in a turf handicap in which she was beaten by 1 3/4 lengths by Fantasy Performer, the Ginger Punch 123-pound highweight.

“She was running better on Tapeta but last time we ran her on the grass, and I thought it was a creditable effort,” Joseph said. “She didn’t run bad. She was closing at the end. If she gets some pace to run at, it will help her.”

Edwin Gonzalez has the return mount.

Jeffrey Parthemore and Nicolby Racing Stable LLC’s City Minute (118, 5-1) is coming off a runner-up finish by a neck in a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance on turf under a returning Micah Husbands.

“I think the mile will help her. As we’ve stretched her out, she’s improved,” Joseph said. “Hopefully, it stays on the turf. If it does, I think she’ll have a very good shot. She’s by Not This Time”

Almost Heaven Stables’ Barakah (115, 20-1) is coming off a 4 1/2-month layoff since winning her career debut on Tapeta.

“She was supposed to run back but she twisted a shoe in the paddock and we scratched her. It took a little while for her to get over it. Trying to get her going,” Joseph said. “It’s a tough task going from a maiden to this race. It didn’t look like it was the toughest race, so we gave it a shot and entered her.”

Rasheed Hughes has the call on the 3-year-old daughter of Speightstown.

Ad Hoc Stable Inc.’s Crafty Collector (118, 6-1) brings a record of consistency into the Ginger Punch, having finished in the money in 13 of 15 starts for trainer Gerald Bennett. The 4-year-old daughter of Collected is coming off a troubled third-place finish in a 1 1/8-mile optional claiming allowance on Tapeta at Gulfstream April 17 that followed back-to-back handicap scores at Tampa Bay Downs.

“We’ve freshened her up after that,” said Bennett, who saddled Crafty Collector for a victory in the Cellars Shiraz over Gulfstream’s turf course last year. “She’s ready to get started.”

Samy Camacho has the mount on Crafty Collector.

Palm Beach Racing V LLC’s Miss Mary Nell, a veteran stakes filly trained by Carlos David, is the 7-2 morning-line favorite who will receive one pound from RAF Productions’ Fantasy Performer (4-1) after finishing third behind the Cam Gambolati-trainee last time out.